Environmental Issues: International Issues

All Documents in International Issues Tagged global warming and health

Safe Water in PerilAddressing the Effects of Global Warming on Safe Drinking Water and SanitationFact Sheet

Nearly eight hundred million people do not have access to safe drinking water, and two and a half billion people live without adequate sanitation. These dire conditions already pose the greatest worldwide threat to environmental health, and global warming is making matters worse. More frequent, severe droughts and floods are increasing water shortages and causing widespread contamination and sanitation challenges. To avoid an outright global water catastrophe, local, national, and international leaders must urgently pursue a two-part strategy of reducing pollution to minimize further climate change and prepare vulnerable communities to deal with the changes in climate already in progress. Get document in pdf.

Documents Tagged global warming and health in All Sections

Science shows that climate change will affect human health across the world. From diminished air quality and degradation of food and water supplies to increasing levels of allergens and catastrophic weather events, we will experience a number of worsening health threats during our lifetimes. Scientific understanding in this area is expanding rapidly, and urgent action is needed to help us avoid the worst of these effects. Get document in pdf.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease that may worsen with global warming. Dengue has increased over the past several decades, probably because of urbanization and population growth, rapid international travel and trade, and widespread poverty. By 2085, an estimated 5.2 billion people are projected to be at risk for dengue because of climate change, and the potential for transmission of this dangerous disease may increase in vulnerable parts of the United States.

Although there is little public discussion of the problem, disease outbreaks caused by contaminated water occur regularly. Researchers estimate that, including unreported cases, between 4 and 33 million waterborne gastrointestinal illnesses occur each year in the United States. Global warming is projected to increase the risk of more frequent and more widespread outbreaks of waterborne illnesses, due to higher temperatures and more severe weather events. To help prevent increased occurrence of water-related illnesses, the CDC should improve surveillance of waterborne disease outbreaks, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should improve water quality regulations, and Congress should act to limit emissions of global warming pollutants. We need to act now to protect public health today while preparing for the impacts of climate change.Get document in pdf.

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Stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline

In Canada's boreal forest, the Peace-Athabasca Delta is a haven for millions of migratory birds. It's no place for even more tar sands development, which is already poisoning the boreal forest's rivers and lakes.